PolandReturn to List of CountriesWarsaw is the capital of Poland, whose area is 312,683 square kilometres, and its population is 38,718,000 people.Poland

Poland was
a major European power in the 15th, 16th and early 17th centuries. It was
partitioned between Russia, Austria and
Prussia (Germany today) in around 1790.
It became a sovereign state after World War I, and the Polish pianist and
composer Paderewski, became Prime
Minister for one year, in 1919. Poland was once again invaded, this time by Hitler's
Germany at the start of World War II. At the end of the war it became a nation
again, but tightly controlled by its own communist government and the
overwhelming influence of the Soviet Union (now Russia). Finally in 1989 it
became a free western democracy.

The Warsaw Conservatory was founded in
1821, and Paderewski studied there.
Moskowski chose to study in
Germany,
and Chopin was privately taught.
Although Chopin was born and grew up in Poland, he moved to Paris at the age of
21, where he lived for the rest of his life. Chopin is by far the most
well-known and frequently-played composer of piano music the world over. His
idealized memories of his native Poland inspired all his musical
compositions.

Tunes originating from Poland. Audio is available for 74 tunes from this country.